Wender·Vista
Almere
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNetherlands
east of Amsterdam, on reclaimed seabed

Almere

— — a city built where the sea used to be.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“East of Amsterdam, on land lifted from the Zuiderzee in the mid-twentieth century. Almere was laid out in 1976 — the youngest city in the Netherlands. The city centre, masterplanned by Rem Koolhaas, sits over a covered parking deck, with the streets pitched at a deliberate tilt. The trees are still young. The whole place is still working out what it wants to be.

from the studio
Almere
— bring it home

Almere, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Almere

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Almere is the largest city in Flevoland Province, founded in 1976 on the Eastern and Southern Flevopolders — seabed drained as part of the Zuiderzee Works that closed off the inland sea in 1932. It lies about 30 kilometres east of Amsterdam, reached by IJmeer rail in roughly 22 minutes. The population has grown from zero to around 220,000 in fifty years, making it one of the fastest-built cities in modern Europe. Six distinct districts — Stad, Haven, Buiten, Poort, Hout, and Oosterwold — sit between forest and lake.

— the stone

Almere's central district was masterplanned in the 1990s by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, completed around 2007. The plan lifts the pedestrian street network onto a raised deck above parking, with buildings cantilevered and tilted at angles that refuse a single front. OMA invited contributions from Christian de Portzamparc, SANAA, and Will Alsop, whose buildings stand around the elevated pedestrian core. The city hosted the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam satellite exhibitions and the Floriade horticultural expo in 2022.

— informed by OMA project page
— the water

Almere sits between two bodies of fresh water that did not exist a century ago. The IJmeer and Markermeer were sealed off from the North Sea by the Afsluitdijk in 1932, then partly drained for the polder on which the city stands. The Weerwater, an artificial lake in the centre of Almere Stad, hosted the Floriade 2022 expo grounds. Long sailing weekends use the Markermeer's open water and the wooden jetties at Almere Haven, the oldest of the six districts.

— informed by Wikipedia (Afsluitdijk)
— where
Netherlands · Almere, Flevoland
— elevation
-3 m · -10 ft
— position
52.3508° N · 5.2647° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
30 km W
Amsterdam
capital city
25 km NE
Lelystad
polder capital
15 km SW
Naarden
star-fort town
2 km N
Markermeer
freshwater lake
N
Almere
Amsterdam
Lelystad
Naarden
Markermeer
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Almere — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Almere was founded in 1976 on reclaimed seabed in the Flevopolder. It is the youngest city in the Netherlands and now the seventh largest, with a population of roughly 220,000.

To relieve housing pressure on Amsterdam and to settle the polder land created by the Zuiderzee Works of the 1930s. The first residents moved into Almere Haven in 1976.

Rem Koolhaas and OMA masterplanned the central district through the 1990s, completed around 2007. The plan raises the pedestrian network onto a deck above parking, with tilted facades by SANAA and Christian de Portzamparc.

Yes. The land surface sits roughly 3 to 5 metres below mean sea level, held dry by the dike system that closed off the Zuiderzee in 1932 and the pumping stations that drain the polder.

An artificial lake at the centre of Almere Stad, ringed by the city. It hosted the Floriade 2022 international horticultural expo and now anchors a permanent park and arboretum on the former expo grounds.

Intercity trains run from Amsterdam Centraal to Almere Centrum in 22 to 25 minutes, four times an hour. The A6 motorway connects by road across the Hollandse Brug over the IJmeer.

— about the piece in your home

Almere is a city its residents helped invent — the first generation is still alive. The piece reads as a quiet tribute to a place built within memory. A Small or Medium with a studio note travels well.

The greens, water-blues, and clean modernist silhouettes pair with Dutch Modern, Scandinavian, and contemporary minimalist interiors. The Voynich palette holds against light oak, white walls, and steel.

Yes. The piece sits comfortably alongside the muted palettes and clean lines associated with Piet Boon and the post-De Stijl tradition that defines current Dutch interior work.

A single Large reads from across the room above most sofas. A 4-tile Mural fills wider walls, and a 9-tile Mural carries above a long console or sideboard.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist water, steam, and light scratching, so the tile holds in a backsplash, a shower wall, or a humid powder room.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. Avoid abrasive pads and household solvents. The colour is held beneath the surface, so the tile does not fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Reid Wender paints every Almere piece in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink language. No licensing, no third-party catalogue. Each tile is hand-finished in Knoxville.

— if this one stayed with you

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